Monday, November 30, 2015

grammaticality - Me/my not knowing the truth?


A gerund is a verbal, and always functions as a noun. It is formed by adding "ing" to the verb. I have recently found out that gerund must be modified by a possessive noun or pronoun. However, it is important to distinguish between a present participle and a gerund, something I sometimes have trouble with.



The noun or pronoun before the gerund is called the subject of the gerund, and should be in the possessive form. However, what if there is a word of negation (no or not) positioned in between? Below are the two examples I thought of. I believe that both of them are gerunds and not participles. Which is the correct construction according to the above grammar rule?



  • She is worried about me not knowing the truth


or



  • She is worried about my not knowing the truth


Now, I know I should be confident in using the second example, given the rule. However, I just want to make sure that there is no exception or changed even when there exists a word of negation separating the noun/pronoun and the gerund.


Thanks a bunch in advance.





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